


fool's hope

by almostannette



Series: Crimes of Grindelwald - Oneshots [4]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Gen, Implied Non-Con, Not canon-compliant, Poverty, Pregnancy, Set in London, love potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 03:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16673470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almostannette/pseuds/almostannette
Summary: Merope wraps her thin coat around herself. It hasn’t fit over her belly in a while. If she were any good at magic, she could cast a warming charm… but if she were any good at magic, Tom would still be with her.





	fool's hope

**Author's Note:**

> The idea for this fic dates back two years - I always wanted to explore the possibility of Newt & Co. running into a pregnant Merope Riddle in the streets of wizarding London. Since this obviously didn't happen in Crimes of Grindelwald, I decided to write a little ficlet exploring the possibility of Nagini and Credence running into Merope Riddle. I imagine that Nagini and Credence managed to get away from the circus for an hour or two and they're cautiously exploring wizarding London when they run into a destitute pregnant woman.

**Wizarding London, December 1926**

The baby is kicking inside her, but she barely registers it anymore. She’s too weak and too tired… the money she earned from selling the only heirloom that she had has long been used up. Salazar Slytherin’s medallion, kept in the family for countless generations, she gave it away in exchange for a few galleons - enough to rent a warm room for two weeks and buy food for herself, not much more.

She sits down at the junction of Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley, wrapping her thin coat around herself. It hasn’t fit over her belly in a while and it doesn’t do a good job at keeping the cold at bay. If she were any good at magic, she could cast a warming charm… but if she were any good at magic, Tom would still be with her.

Her wand pokes her in the ribs. She takes it out and looks at it - it was her mother’s wand and her grandmother’s wand before that, so it’s no wonder that it’s covered in scratches and stains. Second-hand, like everything Merope has in the world, and in her hands, a potentially powerful wand is nothing more than a useless wooden stick. The only thing she ever owned that was not shabby and useless had been him…

She rests her aching back against one of the shop windows, waiting until the owner is going to come out of the shop to chase her away. Her eyelids are drooping, she’s tired… she can’t remember when she last had a full night’s sleep.

She’ll close her eyes for just a minute…

“Miss?”

Merope blinks, confused. She needs a few moments to remember where she is - still resting on the ground, leaning against the wall of the building behind her.

“Miss, do you need help?”

She squints at the person talking to her, and for a split second, she thinks it might be Tom. Tall, handsome, dark hair and eyes… But no, at a second glance, the young man standing in front of her has much more in common with herself than with the heir to the Riddle fortune.

His clothes have seen better days, he is sickly pale and his sunken cheeks tell her that - just like Merope herself - he is no stranger to going hungry more often than not.

She stares at him, unused to anyone being interested in ascertaining her well-being. Usually, people just look away, pretending they haven’t seen the pregnant, destitute young woman begging for a few knuts.

Could he really want to help her? He doesn’t look at her with pity - and Merope has had enough practice at identifying pitiful looks - he seems to genuinely want to help her. Could it be…?

A beautiful woman, a few years older than the willowy man who offered to help her, lays a hand on his arm and says something to him in a low voice. She’s beautiful, Merope notes with a pang of jealousy. Her jet-black hair is shiny, healthy in a way Merope’s will never be, her features are regular and while she is rather thin, she looks graceful, not emaciated.

Merope clenches her jaw. No, she won’t accept any help from either her or him. She  _ won’t _ … 

_ ‘Go away!’ _ she hisses in Parseltongue, the only way she knows how to be intimidating. It has scared more courageous-looking people off before.

Both the man’s and the beautiful woman’s eyes widen - he is bewildered, but she appears delighted. The beautiful woman takes a few steps in Merope’s direction and addresses her in Parseltongue:  _ ‘You speak it? Are you a Maledictus, too?’ _

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr: [@almost-annette](https://almost-annette.tumblr.com/)


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